On July 1, 1991, the famous Hollywood actor Michael Landon died of liver cancer. On TV, Michael Landon played an angel. He helped many people.

About five weeks later, the Weekly World News, a tabloid paper, announced on the front page, "Michael Landon Comes Back to Earth As an Angel!" That paper showed a picture of Landon with a strange halo. The paper said that eight people were healed of serious diseases by Michael Landon's spirit. The writer of the paper said, "What Landon's spirit does in the next few months could change the way we think about God and religion forever."

Tabloids are small-size newspapers that you see at grocery store checkouts. Enquirer is one of the tabloids. These papers often print wild, impossible stories. Many of these stories are false. For example, this same issue of Weekly World News on page 32 tells of a dog that can fly by flapping his legs!

Where did the idea of angels come from? Do people become angels when they die? What powers do angels have? These are good questions. Where should we look for answers?

The oldest book in the world, the Bible, first tells us about angels.

The first time the Bible uses the word "angel" is in Genesis 16:7. An angel of God told Hagar to go back to Sarai, Abraham's wife. Hagar was Sarai's maid. Hagar ran away from Sarai.

The Bible tells of angels of God. Are there other angels that are not of God? Yes. Lucifer was the leading angel in heaven. He rebelled and led about a third (1/3) of God's angels in war against God. Read Isaiah 14:12-15 and Revelation 12:7-9. Lucifer became Satan, who led Adam and Eve into sin.

Angels are not spirits of dead people. Many angels were in heaven before God created people on earth. The Bible says that God made the angels (Hebrews
1:7). God did not get angels from sinners or people who died. The angels are God's servants and messengers. Hebrews 2:7 says that God made man "a little lower than the angels." The angels were to help God's people (Hebrews
1:14). Angels are spirits. They do not have bodies of flesh and bone the same as we have (Luke 24:39).

God gave angels powers to do things that man cannot do. When good king Hezekiah prayed for help against a large army of the enemy, one angel killed 185,000 soldiers in one night. Read 2 Kings 19. God promises to send His angels to protect people if we trust and follow Him (Psalm
34:7).

Satan's angels are always trying to tempt and destroy people. We do not need to worry if we have the protection of God's angels. Satan and his angels lost much of their power when they left God. Someday, after the judgment, Satan and all his angels will be destroyed by fire. (Read Ezekiel 28:14-19)